News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • Historical Muzaffarnagar mahapanachayat sets alarm bells ringing for BJP ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections

    Express News Service

    Lucknow: The farmers who gathered under Sanyukta Kisan Morcha — the umbrella organisation of 40 different farmers organisations – at mahapanachayat in GIC ground in Muzaffarnagar, western Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, put up an impressive show. They gave the call to oust BJP government from both UP and Uttarakhand in upcoming elections in 2022.

    Rummaging through the pages of history of such mahapanchayats from 2003 -2013, an interesting fact emerged which can send jitters to the BJP camp as it is set to try the poll waters in 2022. Whenever such mahapanchayat took place in Muzaffarnagar bringing the farmers associated with Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) together at one platform during previous regimes for whatever be the issue, the incumbent government lost power.

    The first such trend was witnessed in way back in 1988 when UP had a Congress dispensation and Vir Bahadur Singh was the Chief Minister. The farmers prepared a 35-point charter of demands seeking regularization of power tariffs alog with proper price for their crops. They called a mahanpanchayat at Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar followed by a similar mahapanchayat in Meerut on January 27, 1988. Then they took their fight to Delhi Boat Club.

    Next year in 1989, the consequences of farmers unrest were reflected in the defeat of Congress party UP Assembly elections followed by 1990 Lok Sabha elections as well.

    Then on February 4, 2003, the farmers associated with BKU had gathered at the same venue –the GIC ground – against the then Mayawati government protesting the ‘lathicharge’ on Mahendra Singh Tikait, the then BKU chief and father of present BKU spokesman Rakesh Tikait. The lathicharge had taken place at the collectorate of Muzaffarnagar.

    In 2002, Mayawati had become UP CM with the BJP support. Equations did not go well between the two parties and Mayawati had to resign in August 2003. Among the reasons for rift between BJP and BSP was the Taj Corridor scandal and the unrest among the farmers because of which the BJP was losing its support among Jats of western UP.

    Again on April 8, 2008, BKU called a farmers’ mahapanchayat at GIC gorund in Muzaffarnagar against the arrest of BKU chief Mahendra Singh Tikait in Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar. The farmers resolved to oust Mayawati in the next polls and the BSP was voted out of power in 2012 assembly elections.

    After the Kawal incident in the district in August, 2013, BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait convened a panchayat at Nangla Mandaud on September 7, 2013. This mahapanchayat was for move to support the jat community in the region than raising farmers’ issues.

    But communal tension between hindu Jats and Muslims got flared up in the district after the mahapanchayat and fresh clashes took place which continued till September 17, 2013. However, due to public outrage, especially, that of Jats, the Samajwadi Party lost 2017 UP Assembly elections badly and the BJP government came in the state with a mammoth majority.

  • Rahul Gandhi voices support for protesting farmers, BJP hits back

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A day after thousands of farmers gathered at a mahapanchayat in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday voiced support for the protesting farmers and said they are fearless and standing resolutely.

    The BJP attacked Gandhi and alleged that he was trying to fuel propaganda by tweeting an old picture “to claim success of the mahapanchayat”.

    “Standing resolutely and fearless, here are the ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’,” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi along with a photograph of a massive public gathering. Gandhi used the hashtag of ‘FarmersProtest’ along with his tweet. Attacking Gandhi, the BJP’s Information and Technology Department head Amit Malviya tweeted, “That Rahul Gandhi has to use an old picture to claim success of the Mahapanchayat just shows how the propaganda to call it a well attended ‘farmer’ agitation hasn’t worked.”

    “It is political. With religious slogans raised, it leaves no one in doubt, what the actual motivation is!” he said.

    Slamming Malviya, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary said the photograph tagged by Gandhi was from a kisan panchayat organised by his party in Shamli and asked what the BJP leader wanted to say.

    Thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Sunday gathered in Muzaffarnagar for the ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ and vowed to continue their stir till the three contentious agri laws enacted by the Centre are scrapped.

    The event was organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) which has been spearheading the agitation against the laws since November last year.

    The farmers’ protest at Delhi’s borders against the three contentious laws has been going on for over nine months.

    They have been demanding the repeal of the laws which they feel will do away with the MSP system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.

    The government has insisted that these laws have given farmers a new opportunity to sell their produce and rejected claims that they are aimed at doing away with the minimum support price regime and farm mandis.

  • Uttar Pradesh writing new story of development: Yogi Adityanath

    By PTI

    GORAKHPUR: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Sunday said the state is getting rid of mafia, mosquito and filth, and is scripting a new story of development.

    “There was a time when eastern Uttar Pradesh was a hub of mafia and also cases of malaria, encephalitis and dengue were on surge in the region but now the conditions have changed,” he said.

    Speaking at the beginning of a sanitisation drive here, he said encephalitis have been “controlled” in the state due to sanitisation and taking adequate measures. “Encephalitis has reduced to a minimum level with toilets in every home,” he said.

    Adityanath also remembered second president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan whose birth anniversary on September 5 is observed as Teacher’s Day.

    He said, “The sanitisation drive has begun on the anniversary of second president Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and it will continue till September 12.”

    He also met flood victims at Sadar tehsil, Belwar, Kaudiram and Gola areas of Gorakhpur district and distributed relief material.

    Before conducting a survey of flood affected areas, he met people during a Janta Darbar at the Gorakhnath temple and also congratulated Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas LY for bagging the silver medal in the men’s singles badminton event at the Tokyo Paralympics.

  • Uttar Pradesh reports one fresh Covid death, 18 cases

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Sunday reported one COVID-19 death and 18 cases, taking the overall numbers to 22,856 fatalities and 17,09,445 infections, according to an official statement.

    The lone death was reported from Rae Bareli, the UP government statement said. Of the 18 fresh cases, three each were reported from Guatam Buddh Nagar and Jalaun, while two were from Rae Bareli.

    In a 24-hour period, 31 patients recovered from the disease, taking the total number of patients discharged from health facilities in the state so far to 16,86,354. The count of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 235, the statement said. In the 24 hours, more than 2.34 lakh samples were tested in the state, taking the total number to 7.34 crore samples, the statement said.

  • Uttar Pradesh polls: Congress asks BJP, BSP, SP to project Brahmin CM face to prove love for community

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Taking on the ruling BJP and other parties of Uttar Pradesh over their efforts to woo Brahmins ahead of the assembly polls, the Congress on Saturday asked why don’t they project a Brahmin as their chief ministerial face for the polls if they have so much love for the community.

    In a statement, state Congress media convenor Lalan Kumar said these parties are doing all kinds of dramas to woo Brahmins.

    The Congress has given Uttar Pradesh the maximum number of Brahmin chief ministers.

    The BJP had announced on Thursday that it will organise a series of conferences for the “enlightened class” in all 403 assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh beginning September 5.

    Earlier, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party had also announced similar conventions.

    “If BJP, BSP and SP have so much love for Brahmins, then why don’t they project a Brahmin face as their chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections?” Kumar asked.

    The reality is that Congress has given Uttar Pradesh six Brahmin chief ministers, which is more than any other political party, he said.

    “The parties that are doing all kinds of drama to woo Brahmins should tell how many Brahmin chief ministers they have given (to the state),” he added.

    Alleging that Brahmins faced maximum oppression under the current BJP government, Kumar said now that the elections are drawing near, the saffron party has remembered the community.

    On the other hand, he said, the Congress is trying to take everyone along.

    He said the Congress will return to power in Uttar Pradesh after the next year’s elections and only then Brahmins will get justice.

    The BSP started its series of conferences to win over Brahmins from Ayodhya on July 23.

    Its campaign is led by its Brahmin face and party general secretary Satish Chandra Misra.

    The BJP’s outreach campaign will conclude on September 20.

  • UP’s Amethi now self-reliant in medical oxygen production with seven plants: MP Smriti Irani

    By PTI

    AMETHI: Amethi was neglected for 70 years and there was not even one oxygen generation unit, but it has become self-reliant in medical oxygen now with seven plants, Union Minister Smriti Irani said on Saturday, in an apparent swipe at the Congress whose leaders represented the constituency for decades.

    Irani, on a two-day visit to her parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, inspected a trauma centre in Jagdishpur.

    “Amethi was deprived of various facilities for 70 years. There was not a single oxygen plant in Amethi, but today there are seven oxygen plants. In the area of medical oxygen, Amethi has become self-reliant,” she said.

    ALSO READ | India sends 150 tonnes of oxygen to Sri Lanka to help it tackle coronavirus surge

    “Amethi is my home, my family. I know how to look after the family. I do what I say. You have seen that during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Initially samples had to be sent to Lucknow for testing, but the Yogi Adityanath government in UP made such a provision that COVID-19 tests are now being conducted in Amethi,” said Irani, who defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the constituency in 2019.

    “Whether I am in Amethi or outside, I keep a tab of Amethi and am in touch with the administration,” the Union Women and Child Development Minister said.

  • ‘Mystery fever’ spreads to other districts in UP, experts call it vector-borne ‘scrub typhus’

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: After taking the Brij region and a few districts of western UP in its grip and claiming dozens of lives, the menace of the “mystery fever” with dengue-like symptoms has spread its tentacles to central UP districts including Lucknow and Kanpur.

    During the last 24 hours, hundreds of patients with dengue and viral fever-like symptoms have thronged various hospitals across Lucknow.

    At a time when the threat of the third wave of Covid is looming large, the “mystery fever” with cold, congestion, and decline in the platelet count, has taken many into its fold leading to a panic-like situation. However, the medical experts are suspecting it to be a vector-borne ‘scrub typhus’ bacterial disease.

    The worst-affected district is Firozabad where around 75 people have lost life to the disease during the last fortnight. A battery of 11 doctors, including some experts, was rushed to Firozabad to give better treatment to the victims of mystery fever.

    Moreover, a team of experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also been pressed into service to test the samples of the patients. However, so far, no traces of COVID-19 have been found in the patients of mystery fever admitted to different hospitals in the district.

    While 17 casualties have been reported from Mathura, three from Mainpuri and two from Kasganj in central UP during the last 10 -12 days. Over 300-400 patients are still admitted to hospitals.

    The sources from Kanpur said that the mystery fever has claimed around 10 lives in the district in the last week. Moreover, in Gonda, patients suffering from fever and dengue-like symptoms are reaching hospitals in large numbers.

    ALSO READ | Centre rushes experts’ team as 30 kids die of ‘mystery fever’ in UP’s Firozabad in 10 days

    The health authorities are attributing the deadly fever to incessant rains, floods, and its aftermath which leads to the spread of vector-borne diseases. The patients are coming with prominent symptoms as fever, vomiting, loose motions, cold, congestion, and decline in the number of platelets. As per the sources, while in government hospitals, around 400 patients have got admitted in the last couple of days, private hospitals are also showing a rise in the number of admissions by 20 per cent.

    “People need to be very careful and alert against waterlogging, ensure cleanliness and stop the breeding of mosquitoes in and around their dwellings to ward off dengue and viral fever,” said Dr Sanjeev Kumar of Lokbandhu hospital.

    Meanwhile, CM Yogi Adityanath has ordered the launch of a state-wide surveillance drive from September 7 to 16 during which the health officials will go door-to-door to identify those with viral fever, Covid-19 symptoms, and other diseases arising out of the seasonal vagaries.

    Under this drive, nodal officers will be appointed in every district to monitor the relief work in the areas affected by floods and heavy rains. Stating that any kind of carelessness could spiral into a scary situation, the CM said that special efforts should be made to improve surveillance. The health department, rural, and urban development, and child development departments should stay alert and run special cleanliness campaigns with inter-departmental coordination.

    The health officials have been directed to spray anti-larva and undertake fog drives in the areas where more than one dengue patient is found. People are advised to take precautionary measures to check the breeding of mosquitoes in and around their houses.

    ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) reader-based NSI (in the first five days of symptoms) and IgM (after five days) are being used to test for dengue, said the health officials.

    For the prevention of Scrub Typhus, the government ordered the administration to cut bushes regularly and take immediate action to control rats. Required medicines have been provided to the patients. Parents are advised to dress children in clothing that covers arms and legs and use mosquito netting to avoid mosquito bites.

  • 2022 UP polls: BJP applying its tried and tested strategy of fortifying booths

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has begun pulling up socks for the 2022 Assembly elections as the party is busy working out equations with smaller parties in the state.

    A per the sources, the party workers have been instructed to speed up the membership campaign and take it to the next level. The main feature of BJP’s strategy to win elections is to fortify the booths.

    Following the same line, the BJP is not leaving anything to chance and the ground-level preparations have made it clear that a galaxy of seniors and the army of small workers will be involved at the booth level. The saffron strategy is to take on opposition leaders even at the booth level.

    As per the highly placed sources, the party has started a campaign to increase the ward and booth level workers in every district. Instructions have been given to responsible leaders of the area to strengthen the booths and a target has also been given to add new workers at every booth level.

    ALSO READ | What have you done for your caste?’ BSP asks ticket aspirants to explain

    At least 50 people will be given party memberships at each booth and ward level. The party is also taking caste and regional equations into consideration.

    That is, in the area where a certain caste is dominated, the worker-leader of the same caste has been entrusted to fortify the booth so that the party before the assembly elections can strengthen the way to victory.

    The strategy to strengthen booth, part of the BJP’s booth victory campaign, was launched by BJP President JP Nadda on August 23. But it couldn’t pick the needed pace because of the death of former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh.

    After this, UP BJP leaders have been given the responsibility of taking this campaign forward by working at their level. The big wigs of the UP unit, including BJP Organisation Secretary Sunil Bansal, State President Swatantra Dev Singh, along with the formation of booth committees, interacted with local leaders and workers to take the campaign forward and rope in more people.

  • Uttar Pradesh reopens schools for primary students

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: All the primary schools (class I to V) in Uttar Pradesh reopened on Wednesday for regular physical classes with Covid appropriate measures.

    Normalcy returned on Wednesday morning when the tiny tots were seen going to schools with bags on their back and mask on the face.

    As per the guidelines issued by the state government, the classes will be held in two shifts — morning and evening– and only 50% of children would attend one shift.

    At the same time, the private school administrations have sought permission from the parents to send their children to schools. The private schools have been holding both the online and offline classes simultaneously for the students as many parents have not given their consent to send the children to school for physical classes.

    ALSO READ | CM Yogi supports demand to ban liquor, meat in Braj region of UP

    The primary schools have reopened after 17 months. They were closed during the first Covid wave. However, online classes continued during this entire period.

    As per basic education officer Vijay Pratap Singh, students were called in clean uniforms with two sets of masks and a dish of their own for mid-day meals in government schools.

    The parents were duly informed about all the precautions to be taken by them while sending the children at the parents-teachers meetings held prior to the reopening of the schools.

    In all the schools, both private and government, the management was seen adhering to the Covid protocol in the morning shift. All arrangements including thermal scanning, pulse oxymetre, and social distancing were in place.

    Many schools had made the seating arrangement for only 20 students in a classroom. However, many prominent private schools continued with the online classes only and had postponed the re-opening.

  • UP family refuses to take back convict released from jail for good behaviour

    By IANS

    BIJNOR: In an unfortunate case, a convict who has been released early because of good behaviour, continues to languish in jail because his family is not willing to take him back.

    The family has refused to furnish a ‘guarantee’ for him.

    Sanjay Kumar, Bijnor district probation officer, said that a guarantee is a signed affidavit given by kin which acknowledges handover of the inmate and vouches to inform the probation officer in case of any wrongdoing.

    According to him, the inmate, Keshav Sharan, 62, has served 15 years in prison. Orders to release him were given last month. He is unmarried and has two brothers in Bijnor but both have refused to take him in, arguing that his release will have a bad influence on their children.

    The probation officer, who acts as the state-appointed guardian of an inmate in such cases, is now tasked with his rehabilitation and is looking for distant family members who would be willing to provide shelter to the man.

    Sharan was convicted in 2006 of murdering the husband of a woman with whom he had a relationship.

    A local court in Bijnor sentenced him to life imprisonment. He was later shifted from Bijnor jail to Bareilly jail. Sharan was supposed to walk free on August 15 after a state-level committee approved his release in July.

    Two inmates from Bareilly jail were chosen for release, including Sharan.